Vicariance, Complexity, Space

The peculiar topic of this research - perspective taking and spatial navigation - has naturally led to cross over the course of the journey other spatial navigation comprehensions. Specifically, during prototype testing, there were several comparisons with another game, Catching Features1, an orienteering game that tackles the theme of space navigation from a different point of view. The point of view is that of Orienteering, a sports orientation course that consists in making a predefined path with the exclusive help of a compass and a topographic map that represents the details of the territory to be covered. The experimental path of this research has shown that cognitive processes involved in peculiar orienteering activities (map reading, spatial thinking) are also involved in the management of intersubjective relations, and make orienteering a sporting practice with considerable educational potential. This chapter develops by introducing the concept of vicariance, quickly describing orienteering as a sport activity, emphasizing links with Italian national guidelines for the first cycle of education, and, basing on revision of the scientific literature on cognitive processes involved in space navigation and the management of spatial reference systems, provides a proposal for the spread of orientation as an effective didactic practice in a training context aimed at inclusion of pupils Present Special Educational Needs. Paragraph 6.6 discusses the link between autism, empathy and perception – action process, according to neuroscientific evidences.

Space and Media

The tool identified for data collection of this research project is a video game, which makes the topic of the representation of space in videogame an absolutely relevant aspect for the project. This work bases on the statement of Jenkins, according to which “game space never exists in abstract, but always experientially”. In the current generation of video games, talking about position of the camera assumes a different value than in film or television language, assuming the meaning of point of view from which the game is visually (and auditory) presented and determines the spatial perspective of a computer game. The most common distinction, with respect to the position of the camera, is between First Person Camera, where space is presented from the perceptive perspective of the player's avatar and Third Person Camera, where the perspective is not directly the one of the avatar. This category, in fact, is very extensive, and poorly lends itself to a single definition. Under the umbrella of Third Person Camera are both perspectives associated with the avatar, but framing it externally (a camera follows the avatar) and those in which the camera is fixed. Moreover, the position of the camera compared to the avatar (from behind, left, right, Orbit Camera, etc.), or with respect to the environment (from above, from a precise point of reference) is not a neutral choice. In the present work, we use the categorization proposed by Britta Neitzel (Neitzel, 2002), which, taking up the work of Jean Mitry about The Aesthetics and Psychology of the Cinema (Mitry & King, 1997), distinguishes between subjective, semisubjective or objectives views. The chapter provides examples of different perspectives, and introduces the concept of Natural User Interfaces, which include movements based on input and output, on discretion, on voice, and evolve towards an efficient use of the senses in the interaction with machines.

Space Representation in Children

With “Spatial Reference Frames” we refer to systems of coordinates by which the central nervous system encodes the relative positions of objects in space, including that of the body itself. A reference system is a way of representing the positions of the subjects / objects in space. The spatial position of an object can be represented in the brain with respect to different classes of reference points, which may be related or not to the position of the subject. In a nutshell, we can say that there are two types of transformations of space imagery: the allocentric spatial transformations, that involve a system of representation from object to object and encode information about the location of an object or its parts in relation to other objects, and egocentric spatial transformations that involve a system of subject-object representation. The human being switches from one code to another, depending on the contingent requirements, giving preference to one or another system according to a set of heterogeneous factors. The gender difference (male / female), for example, plays a key role. Even the individual cognitive strategies make use of different representations in a significantly different way. Manipulation of spatial reference systems constitute a “transnosographic trait” in various neurological and psychiatric disorders. Each of these diseases (autism, schizophrenia, epilepsy, spatial anxiety, Parkinson) reaches some of the structures involved in the manipulation of referential of different spaces. The chapter illustrates Piaget's study on the representation of space in the child and the use of different spatial coding systems, and provides a brief overview of the scientific debate following the Piagetian position.

Space Representation and Gender Differences

Scientific literature highlighted gender differences in spatial orientation. In particular, men and women differ in terms of the navigational processes they use in daily life. Scientific literature highlighted that women use analytical strategies while men tend to use holistic strategies. According to classical studies, males show a net advantage at least in the two categories of mental rotation and spatial perception. Subsequently, brain-imaging studies have shown a difference between males and females in the activity of brain regions involved in spatial cognition tasks. What we can say with certainty is that, given the complex nature of the subprocesses involved in what we call spatial cognition, the gender differences recorded by numerous scientific studies conducted in this field are closely related to specific measured abilities. The evidence that emerges with certainty from diverse studies is, however, that of a huge variety of strategies that differ according to sex, context, purpose to reach, education, age, and profession. In the study presented here, the gender and age-related tests show a significant sex-based difference perspective-taking tasks, but there is no gender-based difference in the mental rotation task.

IkeWYSe

The first product of the project presented here was a prototype of video games, named IKeWYSE, which constituted the data collection tool for the experimental research project. The videogame prototype realized requires the user to navigate in a three-dimensional space through an avatar. User deals with three different tasks, two of which are designed to measure the skills of perspective taking, while the third task is calibrated on the ability of mental rotation. The default point of view is a semi-subjective view with the camera following the avatar. The player has the option to select other views, going through semi-subjective, subjective and objective point of view. The game was tested between January and March 2015, with a group of 70 children, 35 males and 35 females, from the third, fourth and fifth primary school class and from a first secondary school class of the Istituto Comprensivo San Valentino Torio, in the province of Salerno. Each user performs 10 attempts for each task. The software records the beginning of each game, the user data (age and gender), and, during the game, time for each attempt and the result (success / failure) of the attempt. The present chapter presents the research design, the path for design and development of the videogame, the methods for data collection and discusses the results obtained.

Space, Perception, Action

This paper focuses on the concept of action and on the reversal of the process of perception-action operated by the phenomenological tradition (Merleau-Ponty), which has been confirmed in more or less recent neuroscientific evidences (Berthoz, Decety, Jeannerod). The text presents a quick historical overview on the concepts of space, perception, action, introducing the concept of Umwelt. The umwelt is, a dynamic, interactive concept that defines the relations between the physical world and living organisms, and constitutes the basis and the assumption of intersubjectivity. The subject builds up his world in accordance with his basic necessities and his tools of action. The chapter introduces the perspective of Alain Berthoz, who proposes a vision in which the subject navigates in his own umwelt led by a series of simplifying principles that optimize the process of perception - action and minimize the need for computation. This is coherent with the vision of Gell-Mann, according to whom an adaptive complex system (such as, for example, a living being) receives a data stream, and identifies the perceived regularity in the data stream, compresses their description in a schema, and then uses this schema for the description, the prediction or the action. According to this idea, the body in action resolves complexity in a process of perception-action which is reversed with respect to the cognitivist paradigm: “what happens in perception can be understood in terms of action”.